Love Hurts, Doors Open
by TrainxEve-Fan12
Summary: In which Mallymkun realizes that, perhaps, holding onto to impossible feelings will only hurt her. ChesxMally, Implied TarrantxAlice


It was hard. Ever so hard.

She was aware, of course, that it would never work. He was human…er, well, as human as the people of Underland could be. She was small, fragile, a tiny mouse. And yet, despite this, she'd always had the tiniest smithem of hope that perhaps, some day, it would be possible for Tarrant to see her as…her. Not as the dormouse or even a mouse at all. Just as Mally.

But, as she watched his knees buckle and his head fall into his hands as she, as that big oaf Alice, disappeared, she knew that, no, it could never be. He would always love Alice. And even if he did, someday, see her as Mally, he would still choose her.

Her, who had left him.

Alice, who had stolen Tarrant away from her.

She screamed, then. Screamed at Alice and the Jabberwocky and everything else that was supposed to be wonderful but was instead darkened by the fact that the Hatter wasn't even happy and he didn't belong to her. She wanted him, and she had loved him for so long, and she had known him for so long, and all of a sudden Alice comes down from up above and he's completely forgotten about her.

Everyone looked at her when she screamed, and even Tarrant dries his eyes and looks at her with wide and confused –but maybe the slightest bit understanding—eyes. And she panicked under their glares, turning to run into the forest.

She finds a small hole at the bottom of a tree deep within the forest. She snuggles into it and puts her face in her hands, but she does not cry. She knows she is being selfish. He has a right to love whomever he wishes. And everyone else has their own problems without having her running off like a spoiled child. But she doesn't care. To Hell with them. To Hell with them all.

What's worse was that Alice would be back. It had been prophesized. So the Hatter would not get over her, no. He would eagerly await her return. Maybe that was better, because if she never came back, he might really go mad. Dangerous mad.

Why did that thought please her?

Because she hated him. She hated him for loving someone other than her. She hated him for that.

She almost didn't notice the guest until he had already materialized above her in the lowest branch of the tree.

"What do you want, Ches?" she asks impatiently. "Go away and celebrate Frabjous day with everyone else."

"But everyone else isn't there," he said in his silky, seductive sort of manner. "So I've come to get you."

"Did the Hatter send you?"

"No. He seems plenty guilty about something though, I can't imagine why." His voice indicated that he knew why very well. He was teasing her. "Anyway, I came of my own free will."

"Go away, Ches, I don't want to talk to you."

If she'd been looking at him, she'd have seen him flinch. "Deary, if you were in love with the Hatter…" he pauses, as though expecting her to cut him off. She doesn't, so he continues. "Then I really think you ought to get over him, because he doesn't love you."

"Is this pep talk over yet?" she demanded impatiently. "Go away, Ches! I'm sick and tired of talking to you! You're so, so, so…"

"So…?" he prompted.

"Infuriating!" She crosses her arms. "You're always teasing me and making fun of me and being an absolute annoyance and, and you can't ever just leave me alone to be sad and you're always trying to…" she stopped talking then, and she looks up at him, and she realizes something from his expression. What a fool she'd been. She was no better than the Hatter. "Oh…Ches, I'm…I'm sorry."

"It's quite fine, Mally. I understand. I never was that outright with my affections, anyway." He sighs audibly, and then disappears. He reappears next to her. "But, honestly, I'm not trying to be rude when I say that you'd best get over Tarrant. He's feeling terribly guilty for making you run off, but he doesn't love you, at least not the way he loves Alice. You'll only get hurt."

"O…Okay," she agreed cautiously. "I'll try to get over him. It'll take time, and I make no promises about whether I can…whether I'll love anyone else when I'm over him, but I'll try."

"That's all I can ask for," he says, evaporating away and reappearing at a tree a bit far away.

She knew she'd get over the Hatter someday. She was good with dealing with disappointment. She still loved him, but she could change that love into something else. She could go from being in love with him to simply loving him. And when she had changed that love, maybe….maybe she could love someone else.

When one door closes, another opens.

"Hey, Ches, wait for me!"

E/N: I find this couple adorable. And this is, kind of, based off of the original script where Tarrant kisses Alice after the Fudderwacken, and Ches is the one to comfort Mally. And I think they'd be sweet together. They're not canon but they're not weird enough to be considered crack…hmmm…


End file.
